BIODIVERSITY

What is Biodiversity?

'Biodiversity' or 'biological diversity' can be defined as 'the totality of genes, species, and ecosystems in a region.' The Convention on Biological Diversity gives the following definition of 'biodiversity':
"The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems."
It is widely accepted that the world is losing biodiversity as a result of human activity. This is generally regarded as a negative trend as biodiversity provides a number of important benefits:

• Agriculture - High levels of biodiversity reduce dependence on individual strains of crops which might be attacked by disease (e.g. Irish potato blight). 

• Science and Medicine - Many important drugs have been synthesised from chemicals found in plants. High levels of biodiversity maximise the selection of plants that scientists can screen for potential new drugs.

• Materials - A high proportion of materials are derived directly or indirectly from biological resources - e.g. timber, plastics, rubber, fabrics. 

• Ecosystem - Human activities that impact negatively on biodiversity can have a disproportionately large impact - e.g. due to the effect on animals further up the food chain.

• Cultural and Aesthetic Value - The unmeasurable value of experiencing the world in which we live and helping to preserve it. 

  A healthy biodiversity offers many natural services

 

 

 

       A healthy biodiversity provides a number of natural services for everyone:

• Ecosystem services, such as
  • Protection of water resources
  • Soils formation and protection
  • Nutrient storage and recycling
  • Pollution breakdown and absorption
  • Contribution to climate stability
  • Maintenance of ecosystems
  • Recovery from unpredictable events
• Biological resources, such as
  • Food
  • Medicinal resources and pharmaceutical drugs
  • Wood products
  • Ornamental plants
  • Breeding stocks, population reservoirs
  • Future resources
  • Diversity in genes, species and ecosystems
• Social benefits, such as
  • Research, education and monitoring
  • Recreation and tourism
  • Cultural values

That is quite a lot of services we get for free!
The cost of replacing these (if possible) would be extremely expensive. It therefore makes economic and development sense to move towards sustainability.
A report from Nature magazine also explains that genetic diversity helps to prevent the chances of extinction in the wild (and claims to have shown proof of this).
To prevent the well known and well documented problems of genetic defects caused by in-breeding, species need a variety of genes to ensure successful survival. Without this, the chances of extinction increases.
And as we start destroying, reducing and isolating habitats, the chances for interaction from species with a large gene pool decreases.

 

Government Initiatives to Encourage Biodiversity

Due to the widely-held belief in the necessity to encourage biodiversity Governments and organisations around the world have sought to introduce frameworks to encourage biodiversity. At the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 the "Convention on Biological Diversity" (CBD) was adopted and set the target of achieving by 2010 "a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on earth."

 There are a number of European and UK Government policies that have been adopted to try and meet the targets set in the CBD. In the UK the most important of these is probably the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, details of which can be found on the UKBAP website. Most local authorities in the United Kingdom also have their own local biodiversity action plans which are focused on local needs.



By Ksenia Konstantinova :)